Government Shutdown: What to Expect

As the reality of a possible government shutdown sets in, Washington Wire looks at what to expect from a temporary closure, including some facts about what happened the last time the government shut down in late-1995 and early-1996.

We will update this list as more information becomes available.

SOCIAL SECURITY: As an entitlement program funded through payroll taxes rather than annual spending bills, Social Security will send out checks, but the White House has warned that a shutdown could affect new applicants.

MILITARY OPERATIONS: Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on a trip to Iraq this week, assured troops they will be paid. “As a historian, it always occurred to me that a smart thing for government was always to pay the guys with guns first,” Mr. Gates jokingly added. Troops are typically paid twice a month, and Mr. Gates said that if a government shutdown began after Friday, troops would receive half a paycheck for the first two weeks of April. After that, troops wouldn’t be paid until a deal is reached in Washington to fund the government, although they would receive any back pay owed, he added.

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said on Tuesday that “we would still have the authority and the ability to continue key national security activities, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, operations in Libya, and humanitarian assistance in Japan, to name a few.”

POSTAL SERVICE: The U.S. Postal Service would see no interruption in service or shutdown of post offices, since it’s funded by customer payments.

INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE: IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said that if there is a government shutdown, the tax-return due date will remain April 18. Mr. Shulman encouraged taxpayers to e-file returns, because those are processed automatically and refunds would not be delayed. But he said there would be delays in processing paper returns and providing refunds for paper returns.

AIR TRAFFIC: Air-traffic control would continue without interruption. Passenger and baggage screening by the Transportation Security Administration would continue as well, an official said.

BORDER SECURITY: Border security is also listed in government documents as an exempted activity.

NATIONAL PARKS: National Parks and monuments would be closed.

FEDERAL RESERVE: The Federal Reserve, which does not rely on appropriations, would remain open with normal staffing.

GOVERNMENT WORKERS: Some 800,000 federal employees would be furloughed.

GOVERNMENT WORKER PAY: Rep. Jim Moran (D., Va.) predicts, “There will be no reimbursement” for the time those workers miss because Republicans are so intent on slashing spending and have demonized federal workers. Mr. Moran’s Northern Virginia district is home to 120,000 government employees, and he’s a longtime member of the panel that doles out federal spending.

FEDERAL COURTS: The federal court system would continue running for about 10 working days, using non-appropriated funds such as filing fees, a spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said. If the shutdown lasted longer than two weeks then individual courts would designate “essential employees.”

Judges for federal district courts, appeals courts and Supreme Court justices would be on the job, the spokeswoman said.

Federal public defenders and federal jurors would likely see their pay checks deferred, and some probation officers might be designated as “nonessential.” The spokeswoman said in previous shut downs some judges delayed civil cases and rescheduled appeals court hearings.

A Supreme Court spokeswoman had no immediate information on how the high court might be affected. But during prior government shutdowns, the Supreme Court continued operations with no interruption, she said.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: A federal shutdown would also close the doors at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Zoo beginning Saturday morning. The Smithsonian, which receives 70% of its funding from the U.S. government, stands to lose revenue from museum shops, cafeteria and IMAX theaters.

MEAT AND POULTRY INSPECTIONS: These would continue during a shutdown, the White House Office of Management and Budget said.

OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING PERMITS: Permitting reviews for offshore drilling would not stop in the event of a U.S. government shutdown, according to a contingency plan sent to Interior Department employees. The document, obtained Thursday by Dow Jones Newswires, says “most offshore energy development activities, including plan reviews, environmental analysis, permitting, inspection, and enforcement work” would “remain operational” during a government shutdown.

MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION: The White House Office of Management and Budget said regular inspections would be halted.

PASSPORTS: Emergency passport services would continue, but normal processing would be halted.

FINANCIAL REGULATION: OMB said federal agencies would stop stock broker inspections as well receiving and handling corporate financial disclosures. It also said routine oversight of financial markets and most enforcement actions would be put on hold.

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION: The CFTC said it would keep only 25 of its 675 staff members working in the event of a government shutdown — to conduct a “a bare minimum level of oversight and surveillance” of markets. The CFTC posted the contingency plan on its website in case f lawmakers fail to reach a budget agreement leading to a government shutdown after midnight Friday. The plan warned that the “vast bulk of the agency’s operations will cease,” but that certain employees would stay because “the complete absence of any oversight or surveillance by the CFTC would create an imminent risk to the protection of property.”

THE RECOVERY ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY BOARD: The folks who track how the economic stimulus funds are being spent would continue on the job though a government shutdown. It said in a statement that it will continue to collect recipients’ reports for the first quarter, and will post data from the reports online at Recovery.gov on April 30.

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